Boys strike silver in Hong Kong

MALAYSIA
finally made their presence felt in the World Youth Bowling
Championships by clinching a silver medal in the boys’ team event in
Hong Kong yesterday.

The quartet of Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan, Jonathan Ding Sagan and
Ahmad Muaz Fishol rose to the occasion but they could not stop the
mighty Americans from winning the title.

It was an intense final but the United States team comprising
Matthew Farber, Gregory Young, Kamron Doyle and Wesley Low kept their
nerves to edge Malaysia 812-735.

Ahmad Muaz was the team’s best performer with 244 pins followed by Rafiq Ismail (174), Jonathan (168) and Timmy (145).

In the semi-finals, the Americans edged Japan 776-760 while Malaysia thrashed England 909-738.
“We produced high scores in the semi-finals because we were
playing on the preferred short oil pattern. But in the final, the
Americans chose long oil so it gave them the slight advantage,” said
Jonathan when contacted in Hong Kong yesterday.

Ahmad Muaz said: “I was also battling myself in the final as I was so nervous.
“It was my first ever experience playing in a final of a world
class tournament. I, however, managed to calm myself and also kept
focused on my shots.”

Malaysia started the day by finishing second overall in the
preliminary round by posting a combined 5,066 series after the
completion of the second block yesterday. The US topped the standings
with 5,368.

In the girls’ team, Malaysia’s Victoria Chin, Nerosha Keligit,
Natasha Roslan and Radin Nur Najwa failed to make the semi-finals after
finishing fifth on 4,733.

Japan won gold by edging Sweden 784-783 in the final while Finland and the US were bronze medallists.